tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703135896090475473.post2660407452121357615..comments2024-01-03T15:44:32.214+11:00Comments on Anthony J. Langford: Famous After Death - #1 John Kennedy TooleAnthony J. Langfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02027216695415849158noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703135896090475473.post-44267605552566998012014-01-25T17:15:00.994+11:002014-01-25T17:15:00.994+11:00Yes, I'm very surprised Zusak took so long to ...Yes, I'm very surprised Zusak took so long to come up with a follow up - and stories is hardly adequate I think. Personally I didn't think much of the book - seemed derivative to me. <br />Anyway, O'Toole had written another book prior but yes, I tend to think writers write, so I do wonder why some only write one. Salinger only published one, Catcher in the Rye, but apparently he wrote many more - just didn't want them released for some odd reason (big documentary coming apparently). <br /><br />As for John, I think he had other issues in his life, mainly his parents, but no doubt he was very depressed after his close call with publishing. It must be said that he didn't try to publish it elsewhere. I think the cynicism should be directed at publishers who love a dead writer - which i suppose is part of the point of this series. Anthony J. Langfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02027216695415849158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703135896090475473.post-70446199338149233472014-01-23T20:31:30.051+11:002014-01-23T20:31:30.051+11:00Hmmmm, wrote what I thought was a thoughtful and p...Hmmmm, wrote what I thought was a thoughtful and probably controversial comment to your post and then pushed publish and it disappeared. Maybe blogger is telling me to keep my thoughts to myself. But here we go again, I can't resist. The Confederacy of Dunces is a pretty famous book. I have not read it. It's sad to hear the author killed himself never knowing of the aclaim his book would get. Just lately I have been interested in authors whose first novel is huge, and then they write little or nothing after that. This interest started after reading about Markus Zusak, the author of the hugely successful The Book Thief. Zusak based the book on stories his German parents or grandparents told him, so it was based on stories of events. It took Zusak eight years to come up with a follow up book, a collection of short stories. OToole's book was autobiograhical. So if the his book had been published while he was alive, to the same aclaim, would he have been able to come up with a follow up book? Harper Lee only ever wrote one novel, so did Salinger, so maybe some writers, many writers, only have one story in them. I do wonder if OToole had been alive when his book was published, whether the struggle to come up with a follow up might have lead him to end his life in a similar fashion to the way he did. Graham Clementshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06430135062211828206noreply@blogger.com